Swing Dancing!

There is swing dancing tonight but I don't know if I'm going to be able to go. This is an article that I wrote about the issue that some people have with dancing.

Swing Dancing is one of my favorite pass times. I enjoy it with my oldest brother, Tyler. My second older brother Adam is not real keen on the thought of actually having to touch a girl. We are trying to get him into it, but it is not working. Everyone will probably have a chance to dance in their life time, and I think that they would enjoy it better if they knew how beforehand.

Some People have a problem with the beat in swing dancing. Take my dad for instance. He was a traveling musician for 10 years off and on. (Before he met my mom I might add.) He played the trumpet with a band called Truth. He started playing when he was 11, and was very musically inclined. It’s hard for him to Swing dance because almost all the songs that he plays are in 4-4 time. And swing dancing is in 3-4 time. There are four steps to the dance, but two are double time so you end up on the third beat. He can’t put 3 beats into 4 beats. It just takes practice.

Tyler is 20 years old and I am 15. We don’t practice dancing together because we just never think about it. But when we are listening to music in a restaurant, on the road, or at home, we are always unctuously listening for a good swing dancing tune. It requires an up-beat tempo and occasionally there will be some jazzy words. Some of dad’s old tunes and some of his favorite new tunes always find their way onto a CD to go to the swing get-togethers.

One bad thing about swing dancing is that there seems to be some controversy on dancing within the Christian Church. Not just swing dancing, but all dancing with partners. But dancing at weddings doesn’t bother people as much. Although I think that a friendly fast dance at arm’s length isn’t exactly intimate, I do get where they are coming from. There is dancing in the bible, but I can’t find where there are two people dancing together. I do not think that this is morally wrong, but I do agree that some types of dancing is questionable. (From a biblical perspective)

Another good thing about it is the active exercise. I love any kind of physical sport, so swing is great for me. There are a few activities that we all participate in besides the normal swing dancing. There are line dances, where everyone lines up and does certain steps together. Depending on the song that we’re dancing to, it gets pretty fast. Your legs start to get sore on the second or third rotation. Then there is a game called Snow Ball. That’s where everyone gets in a circle, and two people start it off in the middle. They start dancing and then after a bit someone calls “Snow Ball!” Those two people split and find new partners and so on. And that keeps going until the song ends. It’s very tiring and when someone keeps picking you as a partner, you don’t get to rest much.

Most of all, you get to hang out with friends. It’s so much fun to just have a great time and not have to worry about if you’re going to dance with a strange guy or not. (Depends on what kind of friends you have though.) Listening to music, having snacks, talking, and joking around are just some of the things that you do at swing dancing. I can’t figure out how anyone could not love it. Even if you are a bad dancer, you’ll have loads of fun.

Swing dancing is a great pass time for anyone who enjoys that kind of activity. If you practice at it, you’ll get really good in no time. No matter what age you are, you can swing dance. Good music, good friends, good food, who wouldn’t have a good time?

I don't have any pictures, but I hope to soon!!!